Tea » author

short story: LOSS

So this idea just struck me while I was depressed yesterday, and I ended up penning it down. Hope you like it :) 

!!DO NOT REPOST!!

Loss

The crimson color ran freely on the ground, tainting the street with red. The rain had stopped pouring long ago; puddles full of rainwater decorated the already-wet street, and people had begun coming out of their homes to check out the ordeal, carefully watching their steps.

One by one, their eyes widened upon the scene in front of them – the cheerful boy of their colony was limp on the ground, his blood ruthlessly flowing out of him, spreading on the soaked ground. Gasps and whispers arose, and that's when the lady dashed out of her home.

His mother, they said, had just noticed her boy missing, and once she stepped out to see what had happened, her face blanched.

And that's when they saw the lights in her eyes diminish.

She stood upright for a moment, trying to register what had gone down. Her precious, precious little boy now lay lifeless on the ground before her, eyes opened but lacking soul.

She knew she had gone wrong somewhere. Why hadn't she noticed him heading out to the roof for long hours? Why hadn't she held him answerable when she had seen those self-made scars on his body? Why hadn't she cared enough for her only son?

But she knew she cared about him; those nights when he had been sick and she had sacrificed her sleep to keep his comfort intact; that day when he had won his first prize at a singing competition, and she had felt her heart seem satisfied when he had cracked that beautiful smile of his; those moments when he had been with her last, crying his eyes out.

It was too late now; he had jumped from their once-loved roof and ended his story right there.

Yet, she could swear on her life that she hadn't known those moments were the last ones she got to spend with him. If she had known, she would have pressed him close to her heart, and never let him go, as if he was a delicate piece of art that would break into shambles upon her leaving it.

And that was exactly what had happened.

She walked closer to his corpse, sinking to the floor to caress his cheek – now cold and pale – and a tear slipped down her eyes.

And realization dawned upon her – she wasn't a mother anymore.

Rain poured again, drenching them both; as if the skies were crying for his departure too. As if the universe had lost one of its bright stars, as if it knew how crestfallen his mother was.

So she sat there: hollow and thoughtless. Breathing, but not alive anymore.

~Udeesha